Tot time: texture painting

For our most recent tot time, we tried some painting with different textures. I gave each kiddo a piece of big paper and let them go to town -- in adorable little smocks from Ikea, of course. 

For toddlers, this was a crazy success. It kept three of them busy and entertained for nearly 45 minutes!

We used a mini paint roller, a loofah, a thin scrubbing sponge, two kinds of scrubbers with different handles, a few different paint brushes, a foam circle stamper, a Hot Wheels car and one of our dog's (clean!) rubber toys.

Beautiful artwork, little ones!

Place setting

Ellie is such a helper these days (at almost 20 months old)! She loves helping set and clear the table, empty the dishwasher, feed Marah, and find the picture for her toys and clean up. I know this behavior is likely ever-so-short-lived, so I'm trying to capitalize on it while I can!

Part of this is incorporating some Montessori philosophy into our home -- letting Ellie be independent and self-reliant, even if things aren't done perfectly or quickly. In a book I was reading awhile ago, there was a beautifully simple idea for teaching kids to set a table -- a piece of cork with tracings of a plate, bowl, cup and silverware. That would be a little tricky for her now, so I made this placemat for Ellie last night.

Front (for now -- this is a picture of her actual stuff on our table):

Back (for later, when abstract concepts are a little easier):

Here's a PDF (11x17) of the back. Feel free to download it. It cost me about $7 to print and laminate both sides. Not too shabby.

Dollar store haul!

$33. For ALL of this. 

Yes, I got to do every mommy's dream, which is of course to shop alone. It was quite a productive trip, and included this bountiful haul from the Dollar Tree.

I got:

• 3 pool noodles: for water table, "bead" stringing, and this idea
• Rubber placemats: for painting/printing
• A variety of sponges, loofahs and scrubbers, with different handles, textures and bristles: for water table and painting/printing (like this and this)
• A pack of combs: for painting
• A pack of sandpaper (different coarseness): for a variety of activities, like this
• Fish sand mold: for sand table and beach
• Mini loaf pan and measuring cup/spoon set: for her 2nd birthday play kitchen
• A muffin tin: for muffin tin lunches (which we've been doing recently and she LOVES)
• Brown paper bags: for a variety of activities, including this one
• Glow sticks: to try all sorts of crazy ideas from Pinterest, like this